Journal entry · June 17, 1805
Great Falls of the Missouri — Patrick Gass: June 17, 1805
Patrick Gass · Great Falls of the Missouri · Thwaites Vol. Gass 1807 First Edition
The place today: Great Falls Portage
the canoes up the small river about a mile and an half; and
some engaged in making small waggons to haul the canoes and
loading above the falls. Captain Clarke and 4 men went to
view and survey our road to the place where we were to embark
above the falls. Opposite the mouth of the small river, a
beautiful sulphur spring rises out of the bank, of as strong
sulphur water as I have ever seen. On the bottoms of this
small river and also on the Missouri is a great quantity of flax
growing, and at this time in bloom. Two men went out this
morning to hunt for elk, in order to get their skins for cover-
ing to the iron frame of a boat, which we had with us. In the
evening the men got the canoes to a proper place to take
them upon land.
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The NPS atlas for this night
Lower Portage Camp, Hower Coulee
NPS campsite reconstruction (Bergantino) · Camp of June 16 to June 27, 1805
About 12.8 miles of travel mapped this day (NPS’s reconstruction of the course)
From the NPS Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Park Atlas, mirrored here on September 21, 2026. This copy is not authoritative; NPS remains the system of record. About the mirror
Terrain360 · the place today
Great Falls Portage in 360°
10 frames across 0.2 mi of the route around this location
Artwork
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